The invention relates to the construction field, particularly to outdoor projects and building components made with wood. Individual wooden structural members of all types and sizes as well as a variety of sheet-type woods and wood products are commonly used to build outdoor projects. These projects may include decks, fencing exterior house trim, stairs and many other items.
The wood in these projects or items is constantly subjected to rain, temperature fluctuations, ultraviolet rays from the sun, airborne fungus and insect infestation. These elements are known to deteriorate the wood. Another major problem that occurs with outdoor wood structures is fading. The sun and the elements of the weather will fade lumber to an unattractive grayish color. A multi-billion dollar industry in sealers, stains, protectorates, preservatives has spawned to help combat all of the above forces with little short-term success and no long-term success. To help prevent these problems, each wooden structural member, such wooden structural members also referred to herein as "lumber", may be inserted into a plastic sleeve and matching plastic cap according to the present invention to protect the wood from the above-mentioned forces. For example, these sleeves and caps provide the encased lumber with excellent protection from airborne fungus that traditionally infest outdoor wood. If fungus appears on the sleeves and caps, it only needs to be hosed off In general, the protection provided to lumber by the present invention from the ultraviolet rays of the sun, rain and moisture, mildew and fungus, and insect infestation allows projects built using the present invention to have long life with very little maintenance and upkeep.
Another problem in the construction industry deals with the need to protect wood used for trim on outdoors structures. To protect these wood trim members from the harmful elements mentioned earlier, contractors have to wrap aluminum around all of the exposed trim surfaces and edges. Not only is this time consuming, it also requires the use of a large metal-bending machine that has to be transported to the job site. In addition, the wrapping of the wood surfaces is usually done by sub-contracted crews at considerable expense. As described further below, the sleeves and caps described herein are much simpler and more efficient to use than these costly, time-consuming wood protection measures. Therefore, the invention reduces the time and expense associated with constructing wooden structures.